Spatial Evaluation and Modeling of Dengue Seroprevalence and Vector Density in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dengue is a major public health problem in many tropical regions of the world, including Brazil, where Aedes aegypti is the main vector. We present a household study that combines data on dengue fever seroprevalence, recent dengue infection, and vector density, in three neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during its most devastating dengue epidemic to date. This integrated entomological–serological survey showed evidence of silent transmission even during a severe epidemic. Also, past exposure to dengue virus was highly associated with age and living in areas of high movement of individuals and social/commercial activity. No association was observed between household infestation index and risk of dengue infection in these areas. Our findings are discussed in the light of current theories regarding transmission thresholds and relative role of mosquitoes and humans as vectors of dengue viruses

High-throughput SNP genotyping in the highly heterozygous genome of Eucalyptus: assay success, polymorphism and transferability across species

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High-throughput SNP genotyping has become an essential requirement for molecular breeding and population genomics studies in plant species. Large scale SNP developments have been reported for several mainstream crops. A growing interest now exists to expand the speed and resolution of genetic analysis to outbred species with highly heterozygous genomes. When nucleotide diversity is high, a refined diagnosis of the target SNP sequence context is needed to convert queried SNPs into high-quality genotypes using the Golden Gate Genotyping Technology (GGGT). This issue becomes exacerbated when attempting to transfer SNPs across species, a scarcely explored topic in plants, and likely to become significant for population genomics and inter specific breeding applications in less domesticated and less funded plant genera.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have successfully developed the first set of 768 SNPs assayed by the GGGT for the highly heterozygous genome of <it>Eucalyptus </it>from a mixed Sanger/454 database with 1,164,695 ESTs and the preliminary 4.5X draft genome sequence for <it>E. grandis</it>. A systematic assessment of <it>in silico </it>SNP filtering requirements showed that stringent constraints on the SNP surrounding sequences have a significant impact on SNP genotyping performance and polymorphism. SNP assay success was high for the 288 SNPs selected with more rigorous <it>in silico </it>constraints; 93% of them provided high quality genotype calls and 71% of them were polymorphic in a diverse panel of 96 individuals of five different species.</p> <p>SNP reliability was high across nine <it>Eucalyptus </it>species belonging to three sections within subgenus Symphomyrtus and still satisfactory across species of two additional subgenera, although polymorphism declined as phylogenetic distance increased.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study indicates that the GGGT performs well both within and across species of <it>Eucalyptus </it>notwithstanding its nucleotide diversity ≥2%. The development of a much larger array of informative SNPs across multiple <it>Eucalyptus </it>species is feasible, although strongly dependent on having a representative and sufficiently deep collection of sequences from many individuals of each target species. A higher density SNP platform will be instrumental to undertake genome-wide phylogenetic and population genomics studies and to implement molecular breeding by Genomic Selection in <it>Eucalyptus</it>.</p

Compressed representation of a partially defined integer function over multiple arguments

In OLAP (OnLine Analitical Processing) data are analysed in an n-dimensional cube. The cube may be represented as a partially defined function over n arguments. Considering that often the function is not defined everywhere, we ask: is there a known way of representing the function or the points in which it is defined, in a more compact manner than the trivial one

Relação dos saltos vertical, horizontal e sêxtuplo com a agilidade e velocidade em crianças

The aim of the present study were: 1) To verify the relationship of vertical, horizontal and sextuple jumps with agility and velocity of 5, 10 and 25 m; 2) To verify the capacity of these jumps to predict the agility and 5, 10 and 25 m velocity performance in children. Twenty eight boys (9.47 ± 0.64 years) and thirty girls (9.69 ± 0.70 years) were evaluated. The correlation values between agility and velocity on 5, 10 and 25 m velocity were, respectively, r = 0.63, 0.51, 0.44 and 0.64 with vertical jump, r = 0.68, 0.62, 0.28 and 0.62 with sextuple jump, and r = 0.60, 0.50, 0.26 and 0.57 with horizontal jump. The vertical and sextuple jumps were able to predict the agility and 25 m velocity performance (p < 0.05). Furthermore, they demonstrated capacity to predict 5 and 10 m velocity, respectively (p < 0.05). The vertical and sextuple jump tests may be used for assessment and control of training with children practicing activities that require agility and velocity, since both jumps predicted the agility and velocity performance, which did not occur with the horizontal jump.Os objetivos do presente estudo foram: 1) verifi car a relação dos saltos vertical, horizontal e sêxtuplo com a agilidade e velocidade de 5, 10 e 25 m; 2) verifi car a capacidade desses saltos em predizer o desempenho da agilidade e velocidade de 5, 10 e 25 m em crianças. Vinte e oito meninos (9,47 ± 0,64 anos) e 30 meninas (9,69 ± 0,70 anos) foram avaliados. Os valores de correlação entre a agilidade, velocidade de 5, 10 e 25 m foram, respectivamente, r = 0,63, 0,51, 0,44 e 0,64 com o salto vertical, r = 0,68, 0,62, 0,28 e 0,62 com o salto sêxtuplo, e r = 0,60, 0,50, 0,26 e 0,57 com o salto horizontal. O salto vertical e o salto sêxtuplo foram capazes de predizer o desempenho da agilidade e da velocidade de 25 m (p < 0,05). Além disso, demonstraram capacidade de predizer a velocidade de 5 e 10 m, respectivamente (p < 0,05). Os testes de salto vertical e sêxtuplo podem ser utilizados para avaliação e controle do treinamento com crianças praticantes de atividades que demandam agilidade e velocidade, uma vez que ambos os saltos predisseram o desempenho da agilidade e velocidade, o que não ocorreu com o salto horizontal

Acute respiratory viral infections in children in Rio de Janeiro and Teresópolis, Brazil

The frequency of viral pathogens causing respiratory infections in children in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Teresópolis was investigated. Nasal swabs from children with acute respiratory illnesses were collected between March 2006 and October 2007. Specimens were tested for viral detection by conventional (RT)-PCR and/or real time PCR. Of the 205 nasal swabs tested, 64 (31.2%) were positive for at least one of the viral pathogens. Single infections were detected in 56 samples, 50 of those were caused by RNA viruses: 33 samples tested positive for rhinovirus, five for influenza A, five for metapneumovirus, four for coronavirus and, three for respiratory syncytial virus. For the DNA viruses, five samples were positive for bocavirus and one for adenovirus. Co-infections with these viruses were detected in eight samples. Our data demonstrate a high frequency of viral respiratory infections, emphasizing the need for a more accurate diagnosis particularly for the emerging respiratory viruses. The fact that the emerging respiratory viruses were present in 9.2% of the tested samples suggests that these viruses could be important respiratory pathogens in the country